Torture

Torture is mother of all human rights violations. Torture gave birth to various human rights violations from extra-judicial killing to denial of the right to fair trial. International human rights law posits torture as the highest norm of crimes. Thus, it makes torturer as the common enemy of all mankind (hostis humanis generis). Physical injuries […]

FOR PUBLICATION AHRC-ART-032-2009 June 26, 2009 An Article on the menace of torture in Pakistan by the Asian Human Rights Commission PAKISTAN: The real need to make torture a heinous crime under Pakistan law Torture in custody is a common phenomenon in Pakistan because of the rogue legal system and impotence of the rule of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that a man who was shot dead by police while in custody was not trying to escape at the time, as the police have suggested. The victim, who was arrested on April 2, 2009 by police officers in North Jakarta and was pronounced dead […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing to inform you that a man falsely accused by police of being a drug dealer, was arrested and detained twice to force him to confess. The policemen burned his hand with a lit cigarette and repeatedly assaulted him inside the police station in Cilegon City. […]

The Anti-Torture Movement with the collaboration of Asian Human Rights Commission is holding  a seminar on the UN International Day in Support of Torture Victims            You are cordially invited to participate and express your views. To be held at:  Hyderabad Press Club At 3 PM on 26 June, 2009 Presided By: Justice Nasir Aslam […]

Dear Friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) wishes to forward to you the following press release from the People’s Vigilance Committee on Human Rights (PVCHR), a human rights organisation based in Uttar Pradesh state, India. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Press Release from the PVCHR forwarded by the Asian Human Rights […]

(Hong Kong, June 25, 2009) Mr. Muzibur Rahman is a businessman who farms shrimp in Pakigachha in the Khulna district of Bangladesh, but on January 23, 2007 he was arrested and tortured by army officers. They detained him at their camp for most of the day, and beat him severely for at least two hours […]

On 14 May 2009, the United Nation’s Committee Against Torture released its recommendations (CAT/C/PHL/CO2) following the conclusion of its periodic review of the Philippines on its implementation of the Convention Against Torture, and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). The Philippines is a State party to the Convention since its ratification on […]

On 2 February 2009, India’s electronic media aired a short video displaying the shocking brutality practiced by the country’s law enforcement agencies. The video showed eight-year-old Komal, a Dalit girl, being publicly tortured in Kailokhar village, Uttar Pradesh. The police officer torturing Komal held her up by her hair, twisted her ears and rained blows […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AHRC-STM-147-2009 June 24, 2009 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the occasion of the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, June 26 SOUTH KOREA: The definition of torture and rehabilitation for torture victims are urgently needed The practice of torture through illegal detention was common during the […]

On June 25, 2009 Indonesia’s new police regulations will come into effect, just one day before the UN International Day in Support of the Victims of Torture this Friday, June 26. While the new regulations are a steppingstone to the long-awaited police reforms in Indonesia, the key to end the prevalent practice of torture is to criminalize […]

(Hong Kong, June 23, 2009) With the practice of torture rampant across Asia, it remains one of the most serious obstacles to social health. To battle this injustice, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) announced today its plan to launch a year-long campaign to lobby for the criminalisation of torture in Asian countries, starting June […]

Between 1975 and 1979 the Cambodian people suffered one of the world’s most brutal regimes, the Khmer Rouge, which used, among things, torture as a means to assert its rule. In its notorious Tuol Sleng Torture Centre in Phnom Penh, some 16,000 Cambodians died horribly by the systematic use of torture by the Khmer Rouge […]

From 1971 until the defeat of the LTTE there has been a continuous period of violence where both rebel groups and the state engaged in an attempt to outdo each other in brutality. One of the consequences of this period was the virtual destruction of the system of civilian policing. Now, with the end of […]

The practice of torture is endemic in Asia, and the region’s governments show no political will to eliminate it. In fact, states treat torture as a necessary aspect of social control, directly or indirectly approving the practice. The clearest indication of the states’ unwillingness to eliminate torture is the refusal to criminalise the practice, as […]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  AHRC-STM-143-2009 June 23, 2009 A Statement by the Asian Human Rights Commission on the Occasion of the International Day against Torture, 26 June 2009 BANGLADESH: Bangladesh’s Parliament urged to criminalise torture Article 35 (5) of the Constitution of Bangladesh states: “No person shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or […]

Torture in custody is a very common phenomenon in Pakistan because of the rouged legal system and impotent rule of law. The laws of the land are silent on the issue of torture by the law enforcement agencies. The Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) has no specific section about torture; it deals only about the word […]

Dear friends, We wish to share with you the following statement from the Universal Periodic Review Forum of Bangladesh, a coalition of 17 human rights, women’s rights, labour and indigenous people’s rights NGOs from Bangladesh. Asian Human Rights Commission Hong Kong ————- A Statement from the Universal Periodic Review Forum of Bangladesh, a coalition of […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you of the arrest of three human rights defenders. At the time of the arrests no warrants were produced. They were arrested on 27th May 2009 in Samal, Bataan. The three, who have been campaigning against the possible renewed operation of a nuclear power […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information about an alleged incident of torture involving the Kamburupitiya Police on 5 March 2009. Ramanayakage Nishantha Perera was badly beaten, falsely charged and sent to prison after lodging a complaint against his neighbours during a land dispute. He was not given medical treatment despite […]